2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

[Badger]

There are no 20 kph power advantages or whatever these analysts are smoking. It's Merc's chassis that is making the difference here.

[bluechris]

There are no 20 kph power advantages or whatever these analysts are smoking. It's Merc's chassis that is making the difference here.
https://i.postimg.cc/DzsfKNCs/speed(1).png
https://i.postimg.cc/66bkY0cJ/speed(2).png

Yeah sure

[Chuckjr]

An old dragster racing friend of mine told me once..."It's hard to beat cubic inches." Well, it may not be cubic inches, but Merc has done it again with their power unit. Unbelievable charge and deploy on that bad boy. The FIA may not have wanted another 2014, but they sure as hell got it. I don't think the compression test change will do anything, tbh.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Seems a bit silly from Mercedes to run in full power. Now all eyes will be on their engine more than before.

Who told you they were running with full power? Would be completely against Mercedes base strategy where they run their PU very conservatively for first half of a season to make sure reliability is good. We saw that on multiple occasions from that team before.

Ok, running more power than needed then.

The comments above about the same engine in the other cars. Hardware is the same but I believe calibration can be different. And is different.

Hardware is the same, peak power is the same, fuel suppliers could differ, deployment is what varies the most.

[Badger]

There are no 20 kph power advantages or whatever these analysts are smoking. It's Merc's chassis that is making the difference here.
https://i.postimg.cc/DzsfKNCs/speed(1).png
https://i.postimg.cc/66bkY0cJ/speed(2).png

Yeah sure

The data proves it. All you have is feelings about it.

[Cuky]

Are people really going to do the "oh it must be the engine" like they did in 2014? What was it back then? Not the car, but the split turbo was the key? I mean, Mercedes did make a great PU for these new rules it seems, just like back then. But where are all the other Mercedes powered teams then? Why is Alpine so damn slow if it is about the engine?

I don't like Mercedes being the top dog one bit, but credit where credit is due as they have, so far at least, built the beast of a car and it is not only about the PU.

[Artur Craft]

Seems a bit silly from Mercedes to run in full power. Now all eyes will be on their engine more than before.

Who told you they were running with full power? Would be completely against Mercedes base strategy where they run their PU very conservatively for first half of a season to make sure reliability is good. We saw that on multiple occasions from that team before.

Ok, running more power than needed then.

The comments above about the same engine in the other cars. Hardware is the same but I believe calibration can be different. And is different.

Probably Ferrari was pushing way too hard on testing and FP and tricked Mercedes to show more than needed. I´m sure they will recalibrate that for the next GP

How they know in advance how much is needed before they see the pace of the others? Probably they did not expect others to be that slow.

Exactly. Ferrari appeared to be a tough competitor and that fooled Mercedes into showing more than needed.

Btw, Perez destroyed Bottas. Was there any problem with Valteri´s car ?

[Matt2725]

Max could still have been on pole. It's not out of place for him to be 8 tenths faster than teammate. So season is not over yet.

At no point was he even looking anywhere close to being much quicker than Hadjar. At best he was getting P3.

[Sevach]

I am fairly impressed by the Ford engines in Red Bull. Merc have obvious 20+ km/h on the straights and the way they harvest and use energy. Not a bad job from Ferrari, with Hamilton failing to deliver again, unless he has a rocket start tomorrow.
Bottom line so far seems a good solid bases for development and clear advantage of Merc.
https://i.postimg.cc/RVzFVvrH/IMG-8061.avif

Good chassis for Ferrari, too bad it's not nearly enough.

Maybe after mid season if/when Mercedes gets pegged back.

[Matt2725]

I am fairly impressed by the Ford engines in Red Bull. Merc have obvious 20+ km/h on the straights and the way they harvest and use energy. Not a bad job from Ferrari, with Hamilton failing to deliver again, unless he has a rocket start tomorrow.
Bottom line so far seems a good solid bases for development and clear advantage of Merc.
https://i.postimg.cc/RVzFVvrH/IMG-8061.avif

Good chassis for Ferrari, too bad it's not nearly enough.

Maybe after mid season if/when Mercedes gets pegged back.

Suggestions are that there will be no changes needed on the Merc PU. So I wouldn't hold your breath.

[Artur Craft]

Max could still have been on pole. It's not out of place for him to be 8 tenths faster than teammate. So season is not over yet.

At no point was he even looking anywhere close to being much quicker than Hadjar. At best he was getting P3.

Perez and Tsunoda were often close on FPs too. Very likely Max would be closer to Mercedes which is another disapointment for Ferrari. Norris also had an unfortunate weekend, I guess he could have beaten Leclerc if everything went normal for him

[avantman]

Who told you they were running with full power? Would be completely against Mercedes base strategy where they run their PU very conservatively for first half of a season to make sure reliability is good. We saw that on multiple occasions from that team before.

Ok, running more power than needed then.

The comments above about the same engine in the other cars. Hardware is the same but I believe calibration can be different. And is different.

Probably Ferrari was pushing way too hard on testing and FP and tricked Mercedes to show more than needed. I´m sure they will recalibrate that for the next GP

How they know in advance how much is needed before they see the pace of the others? Probably they did not expect others to be that slow.

Exactly. Ferrari appeared to be a tough competitor and that fooled Mercedes into showing more than needed.

Btw, Perez destroyed Bottas. Was there any problem with Valteri´s car ?

Bottas sounded satisfied on the radio, nothing suggests there was an issue. Not sure why people surprised, I always expected Perez to prove his superiority in that pair.

[Artur Craft]

Bottas sounded satisfied on the radio, nothing suggests there was an issue. Not sure why people surprised, I always expected Perez to prove his superiority in that pair.

Oh, I´m not surprised at all. I´m just like you, I always thought this year would be devastating for those who, for years, have pushed narratives about Perez being the weakest driver on the grid to diminish Verstappen and, at the same time, hyped Bottas as a tough team mate, specially a super qualifier to back up the dellusional thought of Hamilton being a great qualifier

I hope my comment is not worthy of a ban. I´m a known Hamilton "hater" here (I don´t hate him at all, personally, but I think he´s the most hyped driver ever by far) but I don´t want to trigger toxic debates about it

[Luscion]

[stewie325]

If Russell has any shred of self-respect or credibility, he should sincerely apologise for accusing Red Bull of sandbagging , when Mercedes were obviously doing it the whole time.